Human Wrongs Watch
By Claudia Ciobanu*
Warsaw — 36-year old Iranian Leila Naeimi spent two months in Lesznowola, a migrants’ detention center 15 kilometers south of Polish capital Warsaw. She is still waiting for a decision on her asylum application, but she is too angry at Polish authorities to keep quiet.
Putting asylum-seekers behind bars is common in many European countries, including Central Europe. Detainees are often not informed of the reasons and duration of their confinement, and do not get proper legal assistance. Detention centre in Biała Podlaska, Poland. | Credit: UNHCR
“Everywhere you saw only walls, everywhere the guards were with us, and they treated us like animals,” Naeimi recounts, adding that while at Lesznowola she was the victim of verbal sexual harassment and of an overall abusive attitude on the part of the staff.
She says that food in the camp was of poor quality, basic hygiene products were missing, and medical care was suboptimal.
“They think they can do with the lives of people whatever they want, as if I were just a ball they can play around with,” Naeimi bursts out.
